Tel Tales

Adventures in Technology Enhanced Learning @ UoP

Page 8 of 26

A back view of a man and woman holding hands floating in the sky

A Dreamer in TEL

June 8, 2020 / / 0 Comments

Hello, I’m Abigail Lee. Many of you know me as an online course developer (OCD) in the Faculty of Technology. I am still an OCD in Technology, but now, also an OCD in Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL), working part-time in both departments. Yes, it’s crazy and it’s mad. I am mad. Lots of consideration went through my mind before accepting this job: family, health and also being very comfortable with my ‘part-time’ life. However, when I found out that this job is about accessibility, I jumped right in. 

I am a dreamer. I believe dreams can come true. Helping students by giving them the best learning experience and the environment we can offer to inspire them; giving them this little extra helping hand for them to grow and, to realise their dreams is my passion. Accessibility is all about that. It is not just a standard. It is a way for us to realise Inclusive Learning, a way to give everyone the same opportunity to chase their dreams and realise them. Everyone means everyone. It doesn’t matter what ability or disability you have, what background you are from, who you are, where you live, how little time you have; everyone. As long as you have the heart to learn, desire to chase your dreams, you can.

I attended the Sticky RoadShow workshop in June 2018. From the workshop, I have a deeper understanding of the kind of challenges our disabled students face every day just to be ‘normal’, just to access information that many have taken for granted. We often overlook their needs and their struggle because they are the ‘minority’. However, according to the new Government data, “there are now 13.9 million disabled people in the UK. That means disabled people now make up 22% of the UK population – more than one in five.” So, in fact, for every five of us, there is at least one who is disabled. In addition, we have hidden disabilities that are often overlooked or ignored and older people with changing abilities due to ageing. We have to acknowledge this issue, remove barriers and help to solve it by making information accessible. Now that the Accessibility Regulation is in force, there is even more reason to do so.

Moreover, in many cases, improving accessibility benefits all students, not only our disabled students. Students who are carers, students who are working full time, students who are geographically restricted, students with English as a second language, even those who just prefer different ways of learning are benefited. The list is endless, as you will see from some of the examples below:

  • Example 1: A digital copy of a document instead of a scanned one benefits disabled students by being accessible through screen readers. But, that’s not the only group that is benefited by it. In fact, it has made the resources more usable to all students. It made the document easier to read, students can search through the document, find specific content, copy and paste sections of the document, and so on. All these are useful to any student in their learning.
  • Example 2: A good structured document supports screen readers and helps visually impairment students. And, it makes the document more user-friendly to all students. Its additional structure makes it easier to navigate, to work through and process the content. Thus, improve the understanding of the information the document is trying to convey and enhance the learning process.
  • Example 3: Video with captioning or transcripts help students with hearing impairments. However, it also benefits all students by allowing them to search through the video and find specific parts for research or revision, to watch video in noisy environments, or to understand difficult jargon or terms etc. This is especially useful for students who are not native speakers.
  • Example 4: Images with quality descriptions not only helps students with visual impairments, it helps clarify the content and purpose of the image to all students. It also makes the image searchable.
  • Example 5: A fully accessible and responsive website not only helps disabled students navigate around the site and adapt the website to their learning needs, it also benefits any students who just prefer different styles of learning. On top of that, it is mobile-friendly. That means it is easy for all students to consume content anywhere, on any platform – which promotes distance learning and flexible learning. An accessible website also means alternative formats are provided. These alternative formats benefit all students; audio alternative format can be used during a commute or on a run, alternative translated version can help students who are not native speakers and so on.

          I can go on forever but I think you’ve got the point.A photo of a woman taken at sunset, so that the image is a silhouette against the orange and grey of the sky

“ For people without disabilities, technology makes things easier.

  For people with disabilities, technology makes things possible. “

(Radabaugh, 1988)

This is an old quote but it sums up my work and what I dream to archive in TEL perfectly – using technology to make things better, easier, and possible; to enhance accessibility and benefits all. 

It is our University’s vision to become the UK’s TOP Modern University and one of the TOP 100 Young University in the world by 2030. A modern university is an accessible university. A young university should be accessible. This is our dream. I am new to TEL and there is still a lot to learn but hopefully, I can play a small part in contributing to make our dream come true. 

Credit Image: Photo by mohammed alherz on Unsplash

Credit Image: Photo by Isabella Mariana from Pexels

Imaging Phantoms created by a PhD Student laid on a pink table cover. Hands above the table holding one of the phantom's in their hands

Guest Blogger: Emma Cripps – Digital Resources for Research Students

June 1, 2020 / / 0 Comments

Hi! My name is Emma Cripps and I am the eLearning Coordinator in the Graduate School. When asking a colleague what I should write my first TEL Tales blog post about, the response was “something you are interested in”. There are a lot of aspects of my job that interest me, but at the moment there is one topic that I am particularly focussed on – the way in which online learning resources are created. 

Having worked with undergraduate, and some postgraduate taught courses for over 8 years, my move to the Graduate School in 2019 required me to approach online learning from a completely different viewpoint. Having previously worked with academics to develop online resources that mostly supplemented face-to-face courses, I am now presented with the challenge of creating fully online, standalone, self-paced learning modules. The Graduate School, through the Graduate School Development Programme (GSDP), usually delivers over 150 face-to-face workshops a year that support postgraduate research (PGR) students at key doctoral milestones, helping them to become independent researchers and employable graduates. Part of my role is to develop some of these face-to-face workshops into online learning modules, that any PGR student can complete at any given time. Whilst to some, this type of online content may be seen as more suitable for distance learners, the content I create is intended for all research degree students. The most popular workshops we run as part of the GSDP can be repeated up to five times in any given academic year, but for students who are busy undertaking research, working on their personal and professional development, teaching, and trying to maintain their wellbeing, along with any of the other daily tasks required of them, it can be difficult for them to commit to attending one of these workshops. And, given the current situation, the online versions of our workshops are now crucially important to our PGR students.

Online resources, now more than ever, play such a huge role in research students’ development. The ability to log on at any time, from anywhere (with an internet connection) and choose what it is they want to learn, allows research students the flexibility to fit their development around their other commitments. With this idea underpinning the work I do, I have not only continued to develop our online workshops, but have worked with colleagues in the Graduate School to curate resources from many different sources, such as LinkedIn Learning, Future Learn, SAGE Research Methods and many more, to ensure that every topic we cover in our face-to-face workshops has at a minimum, one good quality online resource. However, online resources may not always be full workshops or additional resources from other providers. Within the Graduate, we have been able to record aspects of some of our workshops, which we have been doing for over 4 years now, and provide these, along with additional resources from the face-to-face workshops via our Moodle sites. This results in our online provision being quite varied, engaging, and interesting for PGR students.

When thinking about the content I create, manage and recommend to PGR students, I have always used the following considerations as my starting point. In the current situation, and knowing that I will need to develop even more online resources in the future, I believe these are still some of the best questions to ask at the outset when developing online content: 

  1. Is the content actually needed?
    What is it that I am looking to develop, and is it suitable to be created in an online format? Is there an alternative option that already exists, and if there is, does it meet the learning outcomes, the students’ needs, and is it a high-quality resource? There are some workshops that we would not develop into an online format, such as our “Mini Motivation Boost” workshop. This workshop aims to give PGR students some space and time to reflect on their journey so far, and with the support of the workshop tutor, and other PGR students, consider strategies to get back on track with their research. This workshop works so well because of the interaction between research students, their ability to share their challenges, and discuss ways in which they can overcome them. Unfortunately, this would be particularly difficult to capture as an online learning course, and would not give students the same, supportive experience. Going forward, we would look to deliver this type of session as a live, or synchronous, session, but with additional resources to support it, such as a toolkit of resources, Apps, activities and ways to keep in touch that participants can access alongside the synchronous session.

  2. Is the content accessible?
    The next thing I have to consider is the accessibility of the content I am creating or recommending. I recently participated in a webinar hosted by a large North American company who provide software that’s used to create digital artefacts. The title of the webinar was something along the lines of “creative ways to turn PowerPoints into online courses”. Great! A lot of the content I work with starts off as a PowerPoint, so this would give me some really creative ideas for content development. How disappointed I was when the first 20 minutes of the webinar was spent demonstrating how a PowerPoint can be saved as individual image files and uploaded as an image gallery! Not only does this create a completely inaccessible item for those using screen readers and other assistive technology, but it is also not very interesting for learners to engage with! What I am trying to say here is, I think we still have some work to do in how we develop online content that is both interesting to engage with and accessible, but it is possible to do both, it might just take a little more imagination and creativity! 

  3. Is the content usable?
    The term usability describes the “ease of use” (Church, 2015) of a product, and is an aspect of user experience, as is accessibility. When thinking about the usability of online resources, it is important for me to remember that PGR students are going to have to navigate and find this content, with little or no help. Whilst we provide guidance, videos, quick links and more, there will be times when PGR students don’t know exactly what it is they are looking for, or even if it exists at all! Because of this, everything related to the Graduate School’s online learning content must be easily found, easy to navigate, easy to interact with, and work across all devices and systems that students may be using. Not only that, but the actual content needs to be useful (see point 1!), interactive and engaging. There is certainly more I can be doing in this area, but for now, I am working to reduce the amount of searching PGR students have to do to find what they are looking for, and ensuring that there is a consistent experience with all of the online content that we create.

  4. Do I have the knowledge and skills to develop or evaluate the content?
    This final consideration is actually a really important one. I have been working in online learning for almost 10 years now, and the online environments and content that I create have changed so much in that time, as have my skills and knowledge! What hasn’t changed though is the supportive community of online course developers, educational technologists, enthusiastic academics, and engaging professional service staff. One thing I have had to do a lot more in the last year though is network with subject matter experts (SMEs). SMEs have knowledge or skills in a specific topic (“What’s a”, n.d.), and can be a really helpful source of information, feedback and experience. The relationship with SMEs in the Graduate School makes up the foundation of our development programme, and we are always so grateful to the staff who give up their time to support us. I certainly would not be able to create content for the Graduate School without the input and feedback from staff who have a greater knowledge in complex areas of researcher development, and in aspects of online content creation that I am less familiar with.

Whilst this blog post has been written in the context of postgraduate researcher development, and the work that the Graduate School undertakes, I believe that the considerations I have outlined above, and the approach I take to online content creation can be applied across all levels and courses at the University. One additional thing I would like to add is that with the provision of online resources, the number of PGR students attending Graduate School workshops has not decreased, and we were able to support over 2,600 students in our workshops in the 2018/19 academic year. That being said, with over half the PGR students at the University of Portsmouth undertaking their research degree part-time, our online provision is an important support mechanism for any and all research degree students. Given the uncertain future we are currently facing, the provision of online resources will continue to be of massive importance, and you will find me hard at work reviewing, collating, creating and checking all the online content we provide to our PGR students to ensure that it continues to support them in their research, academic, professional and personal development.

References

Church, S. (2015). Usability and user experience. Retrieved from https://www.jisc.ac.uk/guides/usability-and-user-experience

What’s a Subject Matter Expert (SME)? (n.d.). Retrieved from Articulate website: https://community.articulate.com/series/everything-you-need-to-know-about-working-with-smes/articles/what-is-a-subject-matter-expert-in-e-learning  

The Graduate School supports a community of over 1,000 research degree students from across the University, including MRes, Professional Doctorate and PhD students. We offer bespoke training and professional development workshops that allow our research degree students to grow their personal, professional and research skills and career aspirations. We are also the first port of call for Research Supervisors, offering guidance, support, and development events. Find out more on the Graduate School webpages.

Credit Image: The feature image is from the Marketing Portal, and is “Free for use” and “Available for Third Party”. It shows ‘imaging phantoms’ which have been created and used by one of our PhD students, and were showcased at our 2019 Doctoral Festival of Research.

A view from above looking down on runners, running away from the photograph

Guest Blogger: Claire Tewkesbury – Lockdown And Life With No Students

May 28, 2020 / / 0 Comments

As someone who thrives on routine, going into lockdown and working from home on a permanent basis has been tough. I work full time for the Students’ Union and I started to work from home permanently on the 17th of March. While it was tricky at first, I have managed to develop a new kind of routine now. 

I live in a small flat so no desk space or a spare room to work from and, with a partner who is also working from home, we’ve had to be crafty with the space that we do have. I was lucky enough to have a desk topper that converts from sit to stand bought for me but, with no desk, it sits on my coffee table instead! New routines don’t come easy but I make sure to pack down the desk, my screen and my computer each night which helps me to separate my work life and my normal life. I still run outdoors so I’ve managed to keep a small part of my normal workday routine by running in the mornings before I start work for the day. Running outdoors really helps my mental health so I’m grateful that this remains a constant in my life. 

One benefit of working from home is that I’ve actually been really productive. I’m a list keeper and I usually have quite a few items on my to-do list. I work in a student facing role meaning we usually have a lot of students coming to the door every day and it turns out, without physically being able to see students, the things I need to do on this list get ticked off a lot quicker! 

I do miss this interaction with students and I’m really proud of the ones I work with closely. They’ve adapted incredibly well during tough times and, although they’ve expressed how sad it’s been to have to wrap up their Society activities early, they’ve rallied together and dealt with it in really positive ways. We ran our Student Awards event digitally so I’m delighted that we got to celebrate our students’ achievements, albeit in a very different way. 

On top of my full-time work, I’m also a part-time Masters student at the University so I understand the impact this situation has had on them. I’m studying a Research Masters in the Faculty of Creative and Cultural Industries so a lot of my research is done individually anyway but it can be hard not having your network around you in difficult times. A lot of the students I work with were due to graduate this summer so now won’t see the many friends they’ve made until they do. 

If the current situation has taught me anything it’s that I don’t really know how to slow down even when life forces it upon you. I’m constantly working towards something or engaging in a new challenge – now I’ve finished my university coursework for this year, I’m setting up a virtual event for charity and taking a nutrition course online. But I have realised now that it’s important to give yourself downtime as well. 

Some days I’m full of motivation and still find myself working away after 5 pm and other days I have no concentration at all, but I’m learning that this is OK. I’m a big planner and like things to be just so but now I’m taking it one day at a time – learning that it’s OK for my ‘normal’ to look a little different right now. 

Photo of Claire's work station with the table flat

Photo of Claire's work station with the desk topper extended

In the photo on the left the desk topper is closed for when Claire sits down to work and in the photo on the right, the desk topper is opened for when Claire wants to stand.

 

Claire is a Student Groups Coordinator at the Students’ Union and a MRes student at the University of Portsmouth.

Image Credit: Photo by Mārtiņš Zemlickis on Unsplash

A collage of images taken at Digifest 2020

Into the unknown – part 3

May 26, 2020 / / 0 Comments

Digifest (#Digifest20) runs across 2 days and provides a wide range of thought provoking sessions to engage and challenge the audience. 

Day 2 started with a keynote from Hayley Mulenda (@hayleymulenda on Twitter) that was one of the most heartfelt and eye opening talks I have ever watched called “The Hidden Filter”. Hayley talked about her experiences at university, her journey through depression and anxiety. How she felt while having to deal with family and friends all the time maintaining the focus on her learning. This is something that I can not do justice to with my attempt to write about it now. Just to say that if you ever get a chance to hear her speak, I would take it. It will demonstrate how many students are facing challenges that (depending on your age and year of study) you may never have even considered. It equally demonstrated to me that there were times in my life where I was depressed and emotionally raw but not realising it because I was in the middle of the situation, it is only when I think back and reflect that I can see the damage I was doing to myself. 

She concluded her talk with the notion that we should not rely on technology in this ‘technology driven world’ (which has become an even bigger issue at the time of writing during the COVID lockdown). We now face an even greater challenge to support each other those who may be isolated, not only literally but figuratively. (I will provide some wellbeing support and guidance at the bottom of this blog for extra reading). It is with the “Hidden Filter” that Hayley addressed that our reliance on presenting a show of permanent strength and happiness in a digital world can ultimately lead to a rise in negative and harmful experiences in the “real” world. My favourite quote of her session was “You don’t need to listen to respond, you need to listen to understand”. 

The second day was just as inspiring as the first, with sessions covering a range of ideas, however the last one, I want to mention for this series of blogs is the one hosted by Michelle Capes and Sean Randall of the Wiltshire College and University Centre. This session was on digital escape rooms and demonstrated how you could use Microsoft OneNote to create pages of questions, restricted by passwords that require you to challenge your students and get them to investigate the material. Creating riddles and puzzles that can be discovered through online research as well as having to work around physical locations to find the information. 

During this session, I was inspired to look at how Moodle may be a potential option in creating ‘Digital Escape Rooms’. I found that it was possible to recreate using a Moodle book to house H5P activities that are all set with restrictions that require a set score from a previous question. It was a quick test I did during the presentation but with more work, the idea could be developed using a range of activities and conditions within Moodle that create more a more in depth experience. What it demonstrated to me was the idea that we are often limited by our own creativity and not the technical limitations. The OneNote option being demostrated was simple but very effective!

What I realised is that often we are all working on creative solutions to problems or have ideas that we don’t elaborate on and this can lead us to the point where we are not always great at sharing those ideas that we have. With that in mind, if you have worked on something in Moodle that is slightly more interesting, or have an idea that you are not sure what to do with, please do get in touch with myself, your Online Course Developer (many of whom have kindly written for the blog) or the TEL team, and we can discuss these ideas and potential solutions. 

To close this post and my experiences of DigiFest 2020, I would recommend to everyone that can attend this event in the future, they do! It is a fantastic example of creative minds and inspiring innovations that demonstrate learning and teaching within the FE and HE sector. It has made me think about things we should be looking at for our institution and what I can personally do to inspire others with the technology we have available. It demonstrated to me that there are more aspects to the life we lead within a university that we might miss from the students perspective (thanks @hayleymulenda). We traditionally work in silos a lot of the time, and it is an easy trap to fall into, but we should be looking at how best we can connect our work with others throughout the university. There is more we can offer, but we might not see the direct value elsewhere or how others might also be able to apply it to their subject. It is a very easy mindset to create, isolating ourselves and not sharing our work or innovations. Often this is not deliberate but just one factor in how we approach what we do in our daily working life. Digifest has shown me we should be singing each other’s praises and looking at ways to connect and integrate our best practice around the university and also what we can offer the wider community (be it learning and teaching practice or what we can offer others who might use our teaching ideas in the outside world). 

Guidance and Support for Wellbeing:

and breathe . . .

21 day self care challenge – the result

May 21, 2020 / / 0 Comments

At the beginning of social distancing, I envisaged that lockdown was definitely going to be a challenge for my little family, however I never anticipated how difficult it would get! Trying to work from home, both myself and my husband, homeschooling our 4 year old, whilst trying to entertain our 2 year old  (who is currently in the throws of the ‘tantrum-y terrible twos’), breaking up on-going sibling punch ups, whilst trying to keep some kind of sanity – yep it was going to be tough! Forever the optimist though, and at times, yes it has been super challenging, we managed to juggle through everything and try to remain positive and safe.

As if I didn’t have enough to concentrate on, I decided to take on the 21 day self care challenge (please see my ‘Isolation motivation – are you up for a challenge’ post for more info). I was looking for that zap of energy, I felt sluggish after being cooped up in the house for 4 weeks and was in need of some isolation motivation – so I accepted the challenge. 

The challenge

The 21 day self care challenge included the following:

I had to choose 2 things to drop from my life over 21 days from the following list.

I choose:

  1.  All white carbs, or bread and,
  2.  Sugar (inc. sweets, chocolate and fruit juice)

And choose to add 2 things into my life over 21 days.

I chose:

  1. Drink 2L of water per day and, 
  2. Extra 2,000 steps a day (try to get above 10,000 a day)

So how did I do? – Focusing on the positives . . .

At the beginning of the self care challenge, I lost someone very close to me to covid and another family member had contracted the virus whilst being in hospital. It was a hard time for me and my family and restrictions around funerals made it even tougher. What we were seeing on the news suddenly became our reality and it was very real for us. Not being able to be with loved ones at such a difficult time was hard.

I’ve always enjoyed exercise and going to the gym. Exercise has helped me in the past to gain focus and control during difficult times in my life and I was keen on getting back into it. I was in the middle of Joe Wick’s 90 day plan before I fell pregnant with my second child, but I was looking for a different type of exercise, ‘not a quick HITT’, something I could escape into. I always enjoyed running at school but hadn’t ran since then. I decided to download the Couch to 5K app and give it a try. To begin with I was anxious about being able to run again but now after 6 weeks using the app – I’m loving it! It’s helped to clear my mind and it’s given me some ‘me-time’ back. Some mornings I wake up and I can’t wait to run, it’s definitely lifted my spirits and helped my mental health.

I am now able to easily get above 10,000 steps and an extra 2,000 a day on my Fitbit. As I’m exercising more I’m also finding that I’m able to drink 2L of water per day. I have more energy and feel fitter in myself.

I’ve found it hard to cut out white carbs and sugar completely, so I eat them occasionally and monitor my food/drink intake – everything in moderation. We are all going to have bad days and slip ups – it’s just remembering to not be too hard on ourselves when we do and know that tomorrow is always another day to reboot and start being good again!

Lessons learned

What I have learnt from the 21 day self care challenge is to make time for me – something that is often hard to do especially when I have a young family. I’ve also dropped another thing from the list which I feel has helped me mentally. I’ve now permanently turned off my work app notifications, this is a huge thing for me as I’m a bit of a workaholic, but my ‘family time’ is no longer interrupted by work notifications on days when I’m not working. When I am working is when I deal with any notifications and only then.

Taking a step back from online chat has helped me to re-focus on my work and what I need to get done during the day. Having a busy and very noisy current working environment, it can often feel overwhelming – it’s full on 24/7.  I’m finding it useful to make to-do lists and preparing as much as I can for each day, it helps me to stay on track with work and homeschooling and it helps the children if we have some kind of routine. If I’m able to tick off one thing on the list then I feel I’ve achieved at least one thing during the day. We are all going through our own rollercoaster of emotions and experiencing very different stresses during this unsettling time. Being kind to one another and being supportive is key to getting through this! 

I’m glad I took on the 21 day self care challenge and I think it’s a useful tool to dip in and out of when you are feeling a bit low, particularly during lockdown and looking for some motivation. It’s helped me to get back on track after a difficult time and become stronger both mentally and physically. Isolating with children, working and homeschooling, all confined to the lounge can feel at times very exhausting and claustrophobic. The 21 day challenge has helped me to remember how crucial it is to take some time out for me, even if it is a short run and breathe!

runner

 

Image credits:

Photo by Georgia de Lotz on Unsplash

Photo by Emma Simpson on Unsplash

be kind, stay home, save lives

Guest Blogger: Fiona Cook – Isolation Reflections and Co-worker Jealousy

May 18, 2020 / / 0 Comments

A month ago I posted on LinkedIn, sharing what I’d learnt about working from home after doing so for three weeks. Yesterday, I was asked if my advice would still be the same and I realise that seven weeks of home working, with an unknown number of weeks left, meant it wouldn’t be. 

There are still a few basics that help me. I only work at my desk, in my spare room, so that I can keep a work-life balance and switch off when I’m done for the day. I also have space from my boyfriend so that we can catch up with friends independently, as we would do in the outside world. The rest, however, has evolved a bit since I first shared it.

Two computer screens on and a cat sitting on a chair in front of them looking at the screens

I’m now less fussed about dressing as I would for work every day. Although I’m lucky to have a fairly decent desk set-up it’s not completely optimal, so I have put a bit more value on being comfortable in what I wear. This also helps ensure I have time for a workout at lunch, which is actually something I’ll surprisingly miss when I’m back in the office. And no-one can see my trackies in a video meeting, anyway! 

I drink less hot drinks when the weather is warmer but I’m still making sure I’m taking breaks when I need them. There’s a quote I’ve seen a lot which is “You are not working from home; you are at your home during a crisis trying to work.” This really resonates with me and it’s a great reminder that things aren’t normal right now and we can’t be expected to act as if they were. My boss has been flexible and supportive and I know that it’s okay if I’m not quite with it sometimes. 

Staying in touch with people, both for work and socially, hasn’t been too hard – even with the odd technical glitch. However, last week a lot of people seemed to be getting fatigued with lockdown and I actually felt socially drained. I’ve found that people are reaching out more than usual and whilst it’s great to know that friends want to stay in touch I felt my introverted self wanting to hide after four days of video calls and messages from numerous group chats. My boyfriend and I now make sure one evening a week is a phone-free film night so that we can focus on ourselves and not be glued to screens all the time. I also try not to feel bad about ignoring my phone when I need to switch off, and my friends completely understand when I explain why I’ve gone awol. That being said, despite the anxiety of having video calls with friendship groups for the first time, I arranged a video quiz with friends who I ordinarily might not have seen as a group and it was really wonderful to see their faces. 

I’ve also not gone on many walks lately. As I don’t drive I already had a recurring food delivery pre-lockdown and the deliveries are slowly becoming more reliable so I haven’t often had to go out, which I’m grateful for. Part of me feels like I’m wasting the sunshine and Pompey seafront, but I’m able to work out in my lounge and sit in the garden so I can still get exercise and fresh air. I want to go out, and I imagine I will soon, but I know it’s safer at home so I’m trying not to beat myself up for staying safe when I can. 

It’s not easy, especially as people close to me have to go out to work or deal with difficult employers, but we all need to work out what is best for us and our individual circumstances without comparing everything we do. I’ve only baked twice, I’d already recently started exercising, and I’m not learning any new skills. It’s okay to focus on your wellbeing to get through this and not emerge as a new shiny version of yourself, which is definitely worth remembering during Cat curled up fast asleep on a cover Mental Health Awareness Week. Be kind, to others but also to yourself.

Oh, and I’m also still very jealous of my new colleagues who sleep all day.

 

 

Credit Image: Photo by Mish Vizesi on Unsplash

Ablue background with four outlined images on people's heads in a semi circle around the earth, with piles of books either side of the earth

Guest Blogger: Ankur Shah – Are we ready to deliver Online Learning?

May 11, 2020 / / 0 Comments

Overview

With COVID-19, teaching delivery has had an impact across the higher education sector. With the unknown of lockdown being lifted, higher education across the UK faces a challenge of delivering courses online for the new academic year. This post considers options, suggestions from the University of Portsmouth perspective and identifies how the university can be ready to deliver online teaching.

Challenge

Everyone across the university had to change the way they deliver teaching when the lockdown or closure of university premises was implemented. Academic members have had to not only figure out what technology to use, but have also needed to think about how the technology they use fits in with the pedagogy for their modules.

The second challenge was to think about the implications on  assessments and exams and how they would be conducted online.

There was a requirement to provide essential training or tools to our academic colleagues for delivering teaching online and also a concern over student engagement due to the suspension of face to face teaching.

How did we overcome the challenges?

BAL Staff Help Pages

In order to ensure teaching can be delivered and support can be provided to both staff/students, there was an initiative to design a one stop support page defining all the necessary tools, technology and pedagogical approaches academics can use to deliver their teaching. We directed staff to our faculty support page and also TEL’s elearning tool site. Within our faculty we started email communication everyday highlighting key tools/technology and training guidance to academic members to make this period as smooth as possible for them. 

There was also constant communication with the students on a regular basis to reassure them in this pandemic period. Support teams across the university worked really hard to ensure that staff/students can access the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) Moodle without any issues.

From an academic perspective there were some very good practices noticed within our faculty in terms of using the technology to integrate with the pedagogy of learning. Recording tools (Camtasia, Screencastify, PowerPoint Recording) were used extensively to create short recordings followed by longer ones for the lecture/seminar – examples can be found on the BAL Good Examples – Modules on Moodle. Video conferencing applications (Webex and Google Meet) were used in high demand to conduct live sessions, record student presentations for assessments, seminars etc.

Looking forward

Being the uncertainty of the country, due to COVID-19, no one knows when face-to-face teaching will resume and there are plans for the university to consider delivering online teaching for the new academic year.

If we look back on how the university approached this before Easter when the lockdown was implemented, we can argue that quite a lot of things were done on the fly such as using Google meet for sessions, recording using Powerpoint recorder if no access to Camtasia or recording software, or finding other tools that are not supported but still did the job in terms of delivering teaching.

However going forward this can’t be the case, for the new academic year if the plan is to deliver online teaching then we need to consider the following…

  1. A robust lecture capture solution with the capability of captioning to ensure recordings are fit from the accessibility side of things as well (this can be beneficial for distance learning and on campus delivery).
  2. Provide essential training to academic members to deliver their teaching smoothly.
  3. Identify the preferred application to deliver live sessions that can integrate easily with Moodle (Webex or Google Meet). 
  4. Implement a standard structure across Moodle pages to keep consistency.
  5. Identify how students engage with the content on Moodle pages (i.e. thinking about specifying time a student might require to complete an activity or read an resource).
  6. With regards to online submissions of coursework, have a standard deadline time across the university.
  7. Consider the communication channel you will use with the students (emails, forums on Moodle, video chat etc.).
  8. Think about how attendance can be monitored during the interim period of online teaching.
  9. Ensure all the materials uploaded on Moodle pages are easily accessible for the students.

Conclusion

Based on the consideration made above and also from experience, the university needs to take action on this rapidly, as there is less time to act on the changes mentioned above. Once the academic year starts, students attending, whether on or off campus, will have expectations to get value for their money. There is also a potential expectation on a lecturer to design their materials fit for online, so stating the requirements to them as early as possible could prove beneficial.

Ankur Shah

Ankuh working remotely.

Credit image: Photo by https://pixabay.com/illustrations/online-library-education-book-4091231/

Fiona Cook Feature Image

Guest Blogger: Fiona Cook – Introduction to Tel Tales

May 4, 2020 / / 0 Comments

Hi, I’m Fiona Cook and I am the new Research Associate for the Department of Curriculum and Quality Enhancement (DCQE). 

I have joined the University after nearly four years, across three roles, at the University of Portsmouth Students’ Union (UPSU). My latest role at UPSU was Insights Lead and I was responsible for leading all consultation, research, benchmarking, and data management, and for supporting GDPR compliance. Previously, I worked for the Student Focus team which covered areas such as academic representation, quality assurance, and collaborative partners. I have also worked in FE where I supported multiple departments including all HE provision. 

I have joined DCQE to support the University’s work on widening access to and participation in HE and enhancing the student experience. My role focuses on projects across the University that support the Access and Participation Plan, particularly those around BAME students, WP, innovation in learning and teaching, and student voice. When I saw the posting for my new role it seemed like the perfect opportunity to bring together my experience and interests! 

My previous roles at UPSU means I have already worked closely with the University, and DCQE, on similar projects including content capture, the NSS, the student charter, and the TEF. Working within the Student Focus and Insights teams means I have a lot of experience with student voice, and I thankfully already know quite a few of the many acronyms used in this area. 

I think student feedback is crucial in the development of both strategic and operational planning, and I’ve been able to share my work on using data to drive the student experience at conferences such as the University’s Learning & Teaching Conference and Qualtrics X4 which was one of the highlights of my career to date! The relationship between the University and the UPSU Insights team was also mentioned in the newest APP, demonstrating the importance of collaboration and inclusion.

I am keen to support access and participation through equity of opportunity, and I am excited to continue to contribute to this in my new role. I hope to bring my experience of these key areas and use it to support the development of University activities, whilst also developing my own research and analysis skills. 

It’s quite strange that after just over six weeks into a new role I’m now working at home daily. I shared some of my top tips for remote working on LinkedIn, and it’s been really useful to access the TEL resources as I adjust to regular video calls and life online.

Outside of work I am interested in dancing, politics, and baking – although I made my sister’s wedding cake last year so I’m on a slight hiatus. I’ve also recently adopted an eight-year-old cat called Mimi. 

Feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn. 

Fiona is based in Mercantile with AcDev and the Tel team.

Welcome to the team, Fiona! We look forward to hearing more about your projects in the not so distant future on Tel Tales.

I'll start working when my coffee does

Staying Healthy

April 30, 2020 / / 0 Comments

Lockdown has been in place for around 5 weeks now and in our own way we’re trying to cope and work from home. How are you doing? Remember, don’t be too hard on yourself, you’re doing the best you can in unusual circumstances.  

Right at the beginning of the pandemic the Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) team put together some tips on working from home.  Marie’s blog post ‘Are you ready to work from home? – Tips from TEL’ was published on the 23rd March. If you haven’t read it yet, grab a drink and have a read -there could be some advice here which might just help you! Also in this blog are the links to the eLearning Tools Site which features useful resources and information on working from home, particularly teaching remotely for staff at the University of Portsmouth. 

Whether you’re a student or a member of staff, staying inside and staying healthy is everyones’ main priority at the moment. Many students are probably used to shutting themselves off for hours while they work on their latest assignment or revise for an exam. However, for a lot of people this is the first time they’ve had to work from home, life as they know it has certainly changed. Being able to log onto a device and access work or study materials is only one part of remote working. Having a routine, some physical activity and making sure you take regular screen breaks are just as important for your wellbeing.

Get Dressed

How many of you thought it’d be great just to lay around all day chilling out in your pjs and laying on the settee, whilst working on your laptop? By keeping to your normal morning routine of getting dressed, making breakfast etc, these activities all help your mind to adjust from sleep-mode to work-mode. I’ll be honest I’m not wearing the same clothes I’d wear for work, but what I am wearing are the clothes I exercise in. This is so that when I have a break, I can jump on my exercise bike, no excuses. 

Move 

For those of you with a smartwatch you’ll be familiar with a buzz on your wrist 10 minutes before the hour if you haven’t got around to walking 250 steps.  Don’t ignore the buzz, it serves two purposes. The first, is you need a screen break, but don’t go from your screen to another kind of screen, like your mobile. The second reason is for some activity: get up and move around, pop along to the kitchen and grab yourself a drink (water is good to keep you hydrated) or check on the rest of your family. If you don’t have a smartwatch, set the alarm on your mobile.  

Lunch Break

Whilst working at home it’s easy to forget about your lunch break, don’t!!  More than anything it’s especially important at the moment, it’s time for you to step away from the computer/laptop. Now’s the opportunity to take a walk around the block, get some fresh air or log onto Facebook and follow one of the UoP Sports live sessions. Try to do some kind of activity. Maybe spend time with your family or if you have a garden and it’s dry, take your lunch outside and have a picnic!

Log OffChild playing on the living room floor whilst a lady's faded in the background looking at a laptop

It’s important to maintain a good work-life balance, so after working on and off for eight hours (remember to take short breaks often, and long breaks, less often) or so, log off.  When working from home it’s easy to ignore the separation between professional and personal time, don’t! If you’re lucky and you have a separate room as an office, log off and close the door behind you.  If, like me you’re sitting at your dining room table, log off and put your laptop away. Remember, your home “office” is also your personal space, a place for relaxing and recharging your batteries.

21 Day Self-Care Challenge

The challenge may have started already, but you can start your 21 days at any time.The aim is to help to increase our own self-care with simple tools, strategies and personal challenges to get us through this difficult time. Small changes can have such a huge impact, to your wellbeing. Read more about the challenge in the Isolation Motivation – are you up for the challenge? blog post. Then let us know in the comments box which two things you’re going to drop and the two you’re going to take up.

Positive Pictures from TEL

If you have a minute or two go to our Instagram account #telportsmouth and here you’ll find that we’ve been sharing with our audience some great positive photos taken by members of the TEL Team whilst they’ve been out and about on their daily exercise. Enjoy!

For a more concise interpretation of working from home please refer to Marie Kendall-Waters blog post: Are you ready to work from home? Tips from TEL.

Areas covered in the blog post are:

  1. Create a dedicated work space
  2. Use to-do lists
  3. Learn to deal with distractions
  4. Take regular breaks
  5. Don’t lose touch with your colleagues
  6. Make sure to drink and eat
  7. Make working comfortable
  8. Deal with being disconnected
  9. Don’t be hard on yourself

For regular updates and tips for working at home following us on Instagram #telportsmouth and/or on our Twitter account @TelPortsmouth

Credit image: Photo by Charles Deluvio on Unsplash and Photo by Emma Matthews Digital Content Production on Unsplash

Google icon written in various colours

Google in a time of lockdown

April 27, 2020 / / 0 Comments

2020 marks the fifteenth anniversary of the beta version of Gmail, Google’s first move beyond being just a search engine. Since then Google has created an extensive suite of applications many of which are extremely useful for teaching and learning. In this blog I’ll be looking at some of, what I think, are the most useful apps and why, during the current lockdown, Google can be useful in helping deliver online learning.

Possibly the most useful change Google has made in light of the lockdown was to extend video conferencing (Hangouts Meet)  to all GSuite accounts allowing up to 250 participants in any online meeting. Setting up an online meeting using Hangouts Meet can be done via the Google calendar thus notifying participants automatically. While this particular app lacks some of the functionality of Webex, it is useful for hosting and running a simple meeting or online seminar.

In this time of distributive learning, collaboration can still be facilitated and Google provides tools such as jamboard that will allow students to contribute to online tasks and discussions. Jamboard provides a pin-board style interface onto which students can pin their ideas and contributions to group tasks. While apps such as Google docs do clearly provide opportunities for online collaboration, jamboard provides a tool for more focused tasks with a clear and easy to read interface.

On the Degree Apprenticeship programme, we make major use of G Suite including Shared Drives and Google Docs, indeed without these, it would be difficult to see how we could manage some of the required administrative tasks. The ability to enhance the functionality of some Google products such as sheets, also means that they can be tailored to best meet the needs of our students. For example, all degree apprenticeship students are required to keep a log of their off the job training activities, such as their weekly University sessions, to help them complete these logs we use Google forms linked to Google sheets. Being able to add a script to the sheets means that emails can automatically be sent out allowing course administrators to more easily monitor log entries.

In terms of teaching and learning, one of the most useful Google products, and certainly the most ubiquitous in terms of videos, is YouTube, bought by Google back in 2006. By virtue of having a Google account, all members of the University automatically have a YouTube account. This, combined with the unlimited storage offered by Google, provides staff and students with an invaluable teaching and learning platform. Google’s screen capture app, Screencastify, integrates nicely with Youtube allowing users to edit and then upload directly to their YouTube channel.

So, out of the range of apps, Google provides, which ones are my favourites?

Having worked with apprenticeship students in the Business faculty for over two years, helping them with their ePortfolios, I’ve become a convert to Google Sites. I found the old version while having plenty of functionality, a bit clunky and not that user-friendly, often having to write HTML to achieve what I wanted. A downside of New Google Sites was the lack of template functionality, but this issue is being addressed as the addition of templates is currently in development.

But, on a day to day level, Google docs and Shared Drives have pretty much transformed the way I work, simplifying working collaboratively with colleagues and students. 

The pace of development of Google products is also impressive and I’m looking forward to making use of Smart Compose (https://gsuiteupdates.googleblog.com/2020/02/smart-compose-ga.html) and neural grammar correction, currently in beta. While Word does ship with far greater functionality and even slightly complicated Word documents do not convert well to Google, for the majority of users, the tools available with Docs are generally more than enough and thinglink (https://www.thinglink.com/scene/1282367584611598339) is great for those new to Docs. Google has also made it slightly easier to share documents with non-Google account holders, users can now use their existing email address to set themselves up with Google to enable access to shared Google docs, Sites etc. while a PIN verification system, currently in beta, will remove the need to set up any kind of Google account at all.

The current situation has thrown up considerable challenges in continuing to provide engaging and high quality teaching and learning especially in terms of students working collaboratively, Google clearly does not provide all the solutions required, but its suite of apps are certainly a good starting point.

Image by Saveliy Morozov  from Pixabay

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